A Growing Family
by latielking
Summary: "I'm ok. I am going to be in Chicago on business and I was hoping that I might stop by tomorrow around dinner time, if that is alright? I will even bring dinner, how about Chinese?"


CHAPTER 1

A Call From an Old Friend.

"Hello," said Harry answering the phone after the 3rd ring.

There was a pause before a familiar female voice said, "Hi Harry, long time no see. How've you been?"

Now it was Harry's turn to pause because he suddenly recognized the voice. He slowly replied, "Wow, Annastasia. I've been better. How have you been?"

Again, she paused before speaking, "I'm ok. I am going to be in Chicago on business and I as hoping that I might stop by tomorrow around dinner time, if that is alright? I will even bring dinner, how about Chinese?"

"Dinner, tomorrow night, that would be really great," stammered Harry.

"Great, then it's a date, so to speak. I'll see you then. Bye," she said, then hung up.

Harry sagged down onto one of his mismatched sofas still holding the phone and staring blankly at the fireplace. He cradled the phone and eased back on the couch wondering what was going on. "Wow, Annastasia Luccio," he softly said out loud to nobody.

He had not seen or heard from her in almost 6 years except for the occasional council meetings or other business activities. It had been hard letting her go but after they found out that she had been under a mind-control spell by a rouge wizard and high-ranking records keeper within the White Council, Samuel Peabody. She had been pushed into getting close to Harry to attempt a way to keep him under control.

Harry had felt that he may have been in love with her and was hoping to have that "let's take the next step" conversation with her just before discovering Peabody's spell. They officially broke off their relationship and had tried to remain friends, but it was just to difficult because he still felt love for her and he was sure that had strong feelings for him.

He sat there thinking about her for a long time. Mouse came over and nuzzled his head under one of his hands and settled comfortably on his leg. Harry gently scratched his head and behind his ears while he thought. Mouse didn't mind his distraction.

He remembered when she was Captain of the Wardens and she had been attacked by the Corpsetaker, who had switched bodies with her hoping to use it to get inside the White Council and kill as many of the Senior Council members and Wardens as she could. She didn't count on Harry seeing her attack and switch bodies. They fought, and Harry had killed her while in Captain Luccio's body leaving Annastasia with a new body.

Harry remembered that she was a calm and level-headed woman who understanding of situations from a very logical perspective, sometimes went against the approval of the Council. When he had first met her, she appeared as an older woman, approx. 60 or so years old, with gray hair. She had told him that she had been born sometime in the 1812, in Florence, Italy. When the entire Tuscany area was under occupation and rule of Napoleon's army. She had also told him that was the same year that Florence Nightingale had been born, and that they were close friends during their teen years.

He remembered her telling him that the descendants of her family still lived in Italy, in Greece, and a few in Algeria. She had told him that she had no open contact with any of them and that none knew of her. However, she had a habit of secretly looking in on them every five or six years, just because, as well as to see if any of them might be a practitioner.

He remembered how she had proudly blushed when she insinuated that she was rather promiscuous in her younger days and had even admitted that she often modeled in the nude and that several were for well-known paintings and sculptures. Harry smiled remembering how embarrassed she had been after telling him.

He quickly stood up and told Mouse that he had a lot to do before she arrived. The first thing he needed was to talk to Toot Toot. Mouse gave a soft gruff sound along with a big doggy smile. He searched the kitchen for plate and cut a large piece of cake that Charity had sent over with Grasshopper and he dropped it on the plate. Mouse had grabbed his leash and was waiting at the door for Harry.

They made the rounds so Mouse could conduct his business and then went to the small clearing in the large corpse of trees behind the old house. Harry set the plate on the ground in the center of the clearing and he and Mouse stepped back, so they wouldn't scare the little fairy. Harry cupped his hand to his mouth and softly spoke Toot Toot's name into the light breeze and then they waited.

It didn't take long before a small bright twinkle of lights came bobbing their way. As it came closer you could make out the body of a young man with sparkling eyes and bushy dandelion fluff-like hair. He was about 18 inches tall and had a large set of gossamer dragonfly wings fluttering behind him. He wore a pair of Army boots and fatigues from a G.I. Joe set that Harry had given him with the pistol belt and all the equipment hanging from it. He had a small cap gun on his hip that was still a bit too big for him and a small very real metal sword with a rubber handle. He was a fairy and couldn't touch certain metals. Harry had gotten Charity Carpenter to make it for him along with a matching shield, but he wasn't carrying it today.

Toot Toot landed next to the plate and eyed the cake hungrily. He walked around one way and then back the other way. He flew up and hovered over it closely and looking at every inch. This seemed like it would go one for ever so Harry cleared his throat and stepped out so Toot Toot could see him.

"Are you just going to look at it or are you going to eat it," asked Harry?

"Yipes, I didn't see you my Lord," he excitedly replied, "Besides, you cannot be too careful when you find a piece of delicious looking cake just sitting in the forest all alone. You never know what kind of scoundrel many be trying to do you harm." He said this while glancing sideways at Harry. Then he turned toward Harry and asked, "Is this truly for me? What do you ask of me my Lord?"

Just then Mouse stepped out around Harry and softly woofed at Toot Toot as in saying "Hello". He wagged his tail as the fairy bowed slightly in his direction and tilted his hat. Which caused Mouse to happily woof again. Harry smiled because of all the fairy folks, he really liked Toot Toot the best. He was genuinely nice, helpful and friendly. He was also very loyal.

He then said, "I need for you to quickly get in touch with the Brownies that have been cleaning my home and ask them to come over tonight or whenever they normally come over and do an extra special job cleaning the place up."

Toot Toot looked at Harry with a slightly nerves look and asked, "Is my Lord not happy with the quality of cleaning that they normally do?"

Harry was shocked that he would ask that, and he replied, "No, not at all. They do a great job. Truly I couldn't be happier, but I am expecting a very special guest over tomorrow for dinner and was hoping that they could do and really special cleaning job. Maybe leaving some flowers or something to make the air smell fresh and clean. Does that make sense?"

Toot Toot seemed to understand and broke into a big smile and asked, "Do you have a date, Harry? Who is she?"

Harry was shocked and couldn't keep a smile from his face. He quickly said, "NO, that's not it. Why would you ask that? It's not like I never have a date, besides it's none of your business." He stammered around and them said, "You going to get with the Brownies or do I have to take this cake and throw it in the trash."

He started to reach for the plate when he heard a little high-pitched squeal as Toot Toot quickly jumped up on the cake and pulled his sword pointing it at Harry's hand. Toot Toot shouted, "Don't touch the cake, my Lord. I will be glad to talk to the Brownies for you and I will personally make sure they do an extra special job for you."

Harry smiled at the fairy's reaction and the asked, "Also, do you know of any of the wee folk that do carpentry and building? I need someone to straighten up my kitchen cabinets and make them look a little better then they are right now."

Toot Toot had returned his sword to his belt and said, I know of a few Gnomes that do a little building now and then. I would be glad to talk to them but what would you give them for their work?"

Harry thought for a few seconds and then said, "I will give them a complete set of new building tools along with a couple of pizzas for each group for their hard work."

Toot Toot looked up at Harry and asked, "Will that include me, my Lord?"

Harry smiled at him and said, "There will be one whole pizza just for you, my general. But all of this work must be done before sunup tomorrow morning. Can they do it?"

Toot Toot was excitedly jumping and fluttering around, "Yes, my Lord. They can do it and I will be right there with them to make sure they get it done on time and right, too."

Harry stood up tall and laughed. He then said, "Okay, Toot the cake is yours but then you need to get started, all right?"

"Oh yes my Lord, right away, thank you," and with that said he dove straight into the cake like a swarm of bees. The cake seemed to suddenly disappear, and the fairy lights shot into the sky and off to the east."

While Toot Toot was busy with his tasks, Harry took Mouse back in the apartment and went to the barber to get a trim. His hair had grown a bit too long and he had not had time to get it cut and this seemed like the perfect time. He would also stop and get some beer and a few light snacks.

Harry had gotten his hair cut and then he stopped by the store and bought a new pair of jeans and a new dress shirt. He figured he was overdue to start wearing something nice. He then stopped by Mac's and grabbed 2 cases of his newest special brew. Mac brewed his own ale and it was the very best thing that mortals were allowed to drink, along with a few immortals. So, while he was there he had a couple for himself along with a wonderful steak sandwich.

It was well after dark when harry returned home and when he opened his door he quickly noticed a few things. First, he noticed that he huge heavy steel door didn't rub or drag but swung smoothly and quietly open and closed. He swung if back and forth a couple times in amazement. Second, he noticed that his house smelled very different. Instead of the closed in smoky musty smell, he smelled fresh cut wood and the smell after a rain shower with a light tough of Honeysuckle and Lavender.

As he was enjoying the delightful aroma, Mister his miniature mountain lion slammed into his lags as he entered the apartment. He almost tripped and fell and had to grab the door to steady himself. He put his packages on the counter and after another trip to the car for the rest, he shut the door and then muttered an incantation that lit the candles throughout his apartment, including the fireplace. That was when he noticed several more things that were concealed by the dark.

He noticed that his kitchen had been rebuilt. It now had an L-shape to it with cabinets above and below the counter which was a butcher block style. There was a new double sink with an old-fashioned pump to one side for pumping fresh water. His ice box had been replaced with a much larger and newer looking ice box that could hold twice as much as the old one. He also had a new large wood burning stove with oven for cooking. The kitchen floor had been raised about 6 inches allowing for a step down into the living room area and on the back side of his kitchen he found a small table with 2 chairs.

He then noticed that the food dishes for Mister and Mouse had been replaced and he felt a slight magic vibration when Mister tried to eat out of Muses bowl. He probed the dishes and found that a small magic force had been put on the dishes to keep anyone except the correct animal from eating out of the dish. He should have thought of that years ago.

He walked into his living room and noticed that the floor rugs had been removed and a new thick carpet had been installed, covering the entire floor. The rugs that he had hung on the wall had all been replaced with clean new rugs, most similar to the old ones and his Star Wars poster had been framed and rehung on the wall off to the side of the fireplace.

He noticed that the old beat up couches and the chair were gone, and he now had a new big sectional couch and oversized loveseat with a beautiful wooden coffee table in the center of the room. The coffee table lifted up to act like a table, so he could sit on the sofa and eat his dinner comfortably.

All of the piles of old candle wax were gone, and dozens of new candles had taken their place. The fireplace had been scrubbed clean as had the firepit which had been repainted. There was a fresh stack of wood was in the tinderbox. Harry couldn't believe what he was seeing. Was this his apartment? It didn't look like it. It smelled different, it looked different, but it still felt the same which made him very happy.

He started to wonder if they had gotten into his lab, so he hurried into his bedroom and was shocked. He found that his old single bed had been changed to a bigger and longer bed that he could lay down on completely. It took up the entire side of the room from wall to wall but looked great. The room had been cleaned the same as the rest of the apartment with new clean rugs on the walls and floor.

The area covering his trapdoor had been covered as well and seemed to almost hide the door. If he hadn't known it was there he wouldn't have noticed it. He lifted the trapdoor and looked into the basement as the candles lit and found that nothing had been touched or moved. They had not entered his lab, good.

It was then that he heard the strangest sound he had ever heard. It was a cross between a moan, a cry and a sob. He looked around for the source and stopped something in his bathroom. As he entered the bathroom he noticed that they had reworked it too. The cabinets and sink were new and clean as was the toilet. The old tub had been replaced with a new oversized soaker tub with shower attachments. This would have been the biggest shock to Harry if he hadn't spotted the source of the strange sound.

Crouched in the corner, as if he was trying to hide was Mouse or at least it looked a little like Mouse. Harry finally got him to come out of the bathroom into the bedroom where he could see him better and had to struggle to suppress a huge smile. They had cleaned Mouse by not only washing him giant hairy body, but they had trimmed all of his hair almost completely down to his skin. He looked like he had been shaved. He looked great but so very different from before.

He stood there with a great sad look on his face looking like he was scared and embarrassed at the same time. Harry grabbed the big guy around the head and said, "Mouse, my friend, you look great. I can't believe that this is what you really look like. You are beautiful." He then lifted Mouse, as best as he could and gave him a huge Mouse-hug (not a bear hug around Mouse) and rubbed his face and ears briskly. After a moment Mouse seemed to brighten up and gave him a big doggy smile along with a couple of happy sounding barks. With Mouse was feeling better they went back into the living room where Harry sat down and just looked around the room at what had been done.

Just then he heard Mouse give a little woof and heard someone say, "Yes, I do like your new haircut. It makes you like years younger and a lot thinner." Again, Mouse gave out a happy couple of woofs and hopped around in circles as Toot Toot settled down to sit in the chair across from Harry. He asked, "Are you pleased with the job they have done, my Lord?"

Harry smiled and said, "Toot, they did a fantastic job. I thought that I had entered the wrong apartment went I came in."

Toot Toot quickly replied, "Oh no, my Lord. This is the correct house. There is no worry about that. I made sure that they didn't move it anywhere."

Harry was a little surprised but remembered that almost all fairies were very literal when they spoke. He said, "Well, thank you that was very smart of you. This is a great job, the best I have ever seen. I was so surprised at all they did." He could see Toot beaming with happiness and said, "Because you and they did such a great job, I am doubling the pizzas for you all."

Toot Toot couldn't restrain himself as he zipped around and around flying up and down, looking ever so like a colorful shooting star. He was giggling and making strange but happy sounds. Harry had never seen anyone so happy. He asked where he needed to deliver the pizzas for the Brownies and the Gnomes. After Toot gave him the locations, he told Toot that he would have 2 pizzas delivered to the little clearing behind the house just for him.

Again, Toot flew around happy as could be before settling in the chair and asking Harry, "Can I bring someone over to eat pizza with me, my Lord?"

Harry looked surprised at him and said, Toot, these are your pizzas, if you want to share them that is up to you. I think it is a great idea, but it is your decision." This seemed to make Toot even happier. So, while Toot buzzed around the room, he called to Pizza Express and ordered the pizzas. The gal on the phone didn't understand why he wanted 8 pizzas delivered to 3 different places all out in or along the woods but since he was paying that was his business.

Toot Toot buzzed around playing with Mouse for a few minutes before flying away to get ready for his pizzas. Harry didn't realize that it gotten that late, so he took a shower and was a little surprised to find the water was warmer than normal. He went to bed and quickly fell asleep dreaming of the last few times he and Annastasia had spent together.

CHAPTER 2

An Old Friend Comes for Dinner and Conversation..

Harry had spent all day fussing around the house. He was acting crazy and causing Mouse to moan and groan every time Harry came through the living room again. Mister had bugged out early on after actually hissing and swatting at Harry every time he walked by.

When he had walked into the kitchen for breakfast he found a large vase of flowers sitting on the counter. They were mostly wild flowers and were very colorful. He was very surprised that the wee folks remembered but was very happy that they did.

He left to get some magic supplies and stopped at Mac's for a beer and steak sandwich he sat thinking about Annastasia. He remembered her being a very talented human wizard, and her considerable influence within the White Council. However, after her ordeal with the Corpsetaker, everything changed. She now had a new body that was from a beautiful much young woman, with long brown curly hair, a small round pretty face and dimples.

Along with the new younger body came unforeseen complications. Prior to the switch, she was an older vastly experienced and very powerful witch. After the switch, she found that she had lost almost half of her magical power and physical strength. She still had all of her memories and knowledge, but it was going to take her several years to regain what she had lost.

In the meantime, she was no longer is the Captain of the Wardens and she couldn't go into the field, as before. She started working with a network of wizards who investigate a lot of different types of situations providing support and information for the Wardens. She still goes out into the field to make arrests or fix problems. She also started up a Warden boot camp and, several other training facilities for new Wardens such as the one in New Mexico.

She was amazing and strong, Harry couldn't help feeling a strong desire to hold her and just be with her, if nothing else. Mac came over and nodded toward his empty bottle, but he told him he was fine and had to head out. He wanted to get home and clean up before she arrived. When he got home he took Mouse out for a little walk and as they entered the apartment, Mister appeared and almost knocked him down again. He quickly filled both food dishes and went to the bedroom to get ready.

He still found it strange to have almost hot water and he took his time in the shower enjoying the warmth. He finally got out after his fingers had turned to prunes and he shaved his face, again finding warm water wonderful. He then got the new clothes that he had bought and made sure all the tags were removed before getting dressed. He started fussing again and decided to sit down and relax before she arrived. He sat down in his new loveseat and found it to be very comfortable, so much that he quickly fell asleep. He dreamed about how she effectively had a second youth with a revived and consequent sex drive, she had started exchanging flirtations with him. She even went so far as to ask him out on a date, which he eagerly agreed to. They seemed to develop a continuous ongoing relationship, even though the overtones were still mostly flirtatious and casual. That soon changed and turned into a rather intense sexual relationship, with him referring to their bedroom activities as "wild monkey sex."

Soon they discovered that she had been under a mind-controlling spell by a rouge wizard, who pushed her to get close to Dresden, she broke off the relationship, though she was not happy about it because she was truly quite fond of Harry but confused by the circumstances. Harry was deep in his feeling and hadn't noticed that someone was knock on his door, at first.

Suddenly, he heard knocking and jumped up tripping over Mouse and crashed into the coffee table. "That's going to leave a mark," he said. And quickly hobbled to the door dropping his wards as he reached for the door handle and pulling it a little harder then he needed to. He forgot that it had been fixed and was now working perfectly.

She stood in the doorway and seemed to take his breath away. She had walnut brown hair hanging down over her shoulders with the hair on the left-side tucked back behind her ear. She wore sturdy, knee-high steel-toed black boots pulled up over a pair of nicely tight blue jeans, dark auburn colored long-sleeved silk blouse and a matching blue jean jacket. She had what looked like a old leather computer laptop satchel over her shoulder and she also had 2 large bags of Chinese food and a beautiful small saying, "A little help here?"

Rocked out of his daydream, he quickly said, "Yes, let me grab those and come on it and sit down," as he grabbed the two heavy bags and swung them over onto the counter stepping aside to let her enter the apartment. She walked in and set the satchel on the end of the couch along with her jacket before turning around to face him.

He took a short step toward her and she grabbed him with no warning and gave him a great big wonderful warm kiss. He was shocked but quickly recovered and started kissing her back. They kissed for several minutes before slowly releasing each other. She stepped back, around the couch and sat down. He just stood there lost in his own mind wondering what had just happened and wondering if there was something he could do to cause it to happen again, "Wow," he said almost to himself.

He walked over and sat in the chair across from her and heard her whisper, "Wow is right, oh boy."

He smiled and looked at her to see that she was looking at him. Though they had already experienced a Soul gaze, she still adverted her eyes after just a second of looking into his. A habit most wizards get into after a while. They sat with out say a word for a few seconds and that gave Mouse plenty of time to get in his hellos and head scratch. Ana (as Harry had called her) gladly grabbed and hugged the big dog's neck and started scratching behind his ears which caused a small tornado from his large wagging tail.

She slowed down on her scratching and lifted his head then looked him all over. She then looked around the room and back at the kitchen and door before saying, "Harry, everything looks different, what happened?"

He smiled and said, "I had a little work done on the place, after the last attack by some bad guys and then I just had the place cleaned up along with Mister Shaggy there some everything would look nice. You like?"

"Yes, I do. It looks great and Mouse is absolutely adorable," she said as she hugged him again and ruffled his face fur. He really liked her and hoped that she would do that again.

Harry smiled at Mouse than at Ana saying, "Thanks, mouse was all worried that he would look funny or something." He smiled and took a drink of his beer and then became quiet.

After another quiet second or two, they both started to speak and then stopped. She giggled, and he cleared his throat enough to say, "Ladies first, please."

She smiled and said, "Always the gentleman, hey Harry?" he blushed, and she sat watching him before saying, "We should probably get to that Chinese food before it gets cold."

With that, they both nodded and went to the little kitchen grabbing plates and boxes and bags until they both had plates full of food. They sat down at the little table and started to eat. Harry jumped up and grabbed 2 cold bottles of Mac's special beer, secretly hoping that Mac never found out that he served it cold and handed one to Ana. She took it and then a swig before asking, "This is great, Mac's right?"

"Yes it is," he replied, "it is a new special brew that Mac is trying out. I think he may have out done himself this time. It is heavenly." They both agreed and enjoyed their meal and ale until they had eaten all that they could. As they were clearing the table Harry dropped the remaining egg foo yong and short ribs into Mouse's bowl as he sat with a big doggy smile waiting his turn.

With the dishes cleaned up and a fresh beer in their hands they returned to the living room and took their seats closest to the fire. After a quiet few seconds, Harry asked, "So, tell me, where have you been for the last few years and what have you been doing?" he was hoping to get her talking so the silence uncomfortable moments would go away.

For a sec she said nothing as she took a sip of her beer. She then exhaled rather loudly and started, "I took some time and went back home to Florence, where my family lives, as you know. Did I ever tell you that Florence Nightingale was been right around the same time I was, and we grew up as friends. You know, she was just as sweet and caring as the stories say she was."

Harry smiled, noting that she was nervous and delaying whatever she had come to tell him. He replied, "Yes, I believe that you may have mentioned that before. You know, for a 200 plus year old woman, you look pretty damn good."

It was her turn to blush. She then said, "Well, it helped to have the Corpsetaker give me an unwanted complete body makeover. It couldn't have done it without here." They both laughed a little remembering how she had almost died during that attack.

Harry smiled and softly replied, "Yes I do remember that. So, you went back to your home town, how did that go for you?" hoping to get her back on track.

She took another drink and smiled saying, "Yes, right, Florence. I think I told you that I used to keep track of my ancestors for my own selfish reasons as well as watching for any signs of anyone having any powers. Well, while hanging around I ran into a woman who looked exactly like my mother's sister, Sophia. I mean exactly, the same face, same shape even the same voice and habits. It was amazing. Being that she had been my favorite aunt, I took a chance and I visited her home and told her all about myself."

Harry looked a little surprised by this and asked, "Really, how did that go?"

She took another drink, "Well, she seemed to not react at all for a few seconds and then she started laughing and hugging me just like my aunt Sophia. It took a little time for her to calm done and for me to get over her reaction but finally we started talking and she told me that her grandmother had told her that the family had real witches in it and that I should be ready because one day one of those family members would return."

"Harry, it was wonderful. I had family that I could talk to and share things with and love. I also got love in return. I was the most amazing thing to happen in my life, well almost." She said this while opening her arms and her palms as to refer to the body swatting that had happened.

She then told him that her name was also Sophia, she had been named after her great, great aunt. She told him about her and Sophia going to meet her great grandmother, she was 104 years old. The woman was her aunt Sophia's great granddaughter. They spent the weekend hugging and crying and laughing about family and old tales, looking at old pictures. Then she grabbed her satchel and removed one of two large photo albums and moved over to sit next to Harry, so he could see the pictures.

She showed him some very old slightly yellowing family pictures of her mother and father on their wedding day. Some pictures of her and her brothers and sisters, 6 total. Then other family members including several pictures of her and her aunt Sophia. She then showed him pictures of he new aunt Sophia and her great grandmother. It was a little confusing going back and forth on the family tree, but Harry followed what she was saying, mostly.

They laughed as she told all kinds of family stories and how she and Sophia had told the rest of the family that she was related to the Annastasia that had left Italy back in the mid 1800's and moved to American where she had started her own side of the family. They all welcomed the long-lost sheep into the family and she started to cry as she talked about how great they had been, taking her right in without any doubt even though she really didn't look a lot like any of them.

They were going on for quite a while when Harry asked about the other book in the satchel, "Is that another book of more family pictures?"

She seemed to freeze in place not looking at him for almost a minute before speaking and then she was interrupted by Mouse when he dropped him head in her lap before dropping two fortune cookies from their meal in her lap. He then stepped back and just looked at them with his big drooping smile.

She stared at the cooking and then at Mouse without moving. He then gave a little "woof" at her nodding his head toward her lap. She smiled and picked up the cookies, asking, "You think we should open our fortune cookies first, Mouse?"

As if to answer her, he said, "Woof" and then smiled a big drooling doggy smile at them both.

She looked at Harry as she handed him the 2 cookies, offering him his choice of cookie and said, "Seems like a real smart dog you got there Harry. Take one, you first."

He looked at the cookies, then at Mouse who seemed to nod his head back at him and then at Ana. He asked, "Is there something going on that I don't know about?"

She smiled and said, Harry, there is always something going on that you don't know about but only the future knows what that me be. Open your cookie and see what the future hold."

So Harry took a cookie and opened it up, crushing the sides just enough to get to the little slip of paper hat was inside. He pulled it out and read it to himself. While he re-read the paper for the 3rd time, Ana did the same. The look on her face was somewhere between shock or complete surprise. All she could do was stare at her hand holding the little piece of paper.

Mouse watched all of this then said, "Woof" just loud enough to shock them back to reality. He then went into the kitchen to get some water.

She turned and looked at Harry and said, "Why don't you read you fortune, Harry?"

He wasn't sure what was going on, but he knew it was coming to a head, so he looked back and his little piece of paper and read, "You will soon see an old friend who has good news to share."

She was even more shocked by this and turned to look at Mouse, who just sat there looking back at her and then he sneezed and big ol' doggies sneeze before shaking his head and then looking back at her. She turned and said, "Wow, no turning back now." She exhaled another big breath and say, "News is best shared with those you care about."

It was Harry's turn to sit there with his mouth hanging open and a stupid look on his face. He looked back at his fortune and then at Mouse saying, "Did you do this? Did you mess with these fortunes in some way, Mouse?"

Mouse closed his mouth and looked straight at Harry before growling a little and then barking twice, rather loudly. He then shook his head a couple times and then quickly walked through the living room and into the bedroom somehow shutting the door behind him.

They watched him as he went in the bedroom and jumped a little as the door slammed shut behind him. They then looked at each other for a minute in silence before he said, "I could use another beer before going on, how about you?"

He then got up and went into the kitchen and grabbed 2 more cold beers, opened them and returned to the couch setting her beer on the coffee table. She also got up and took the photo album back to the satchel and exchanged it for the other one that had been waiting there. She then retuned, held the album tight to her chest and took a long couple drinks from the new beer before turning to Harry and saying, "I would like to share this with you. It is the most important book I have ever owned. I would like you to look at each page and every picture before saying. I will explain everything to you, but you must look at each picture first.

Harry set his beer down and then reached out for the album as she gently placed it in his hands. She sat back and took a couple long pulls from her beer while he started turning pages. She then went into the kitchen and grabbed another beer, taking another long pull on it before returning to sit back down. She watched as Harry turned each page slowly and carefully, as if he feared he might break it, studying each and every page as if committing them to memory.

After almost an hour of watching Harry study the photos, he closed the book and set it on the table next to his beer. He took up the beer and drink the remaining beer in one swallow. He then went into the kitchen, grabbed 2 more beers, opened them and returned to his seat setting both beers on the table next to the album. He then turned to her without a word, hung his right arm on the back of the couch and held his hands looking straight at her. She turned to him and raised her eyes to look him straight in the eyes and started a soul gaze.

Harry felt a wave of passions flow over him and could she the old image of her standing on the top of a tall Mesa in a vast beautiful desert landscape. The sunlight making colors stand out along the cliffs and across the burning sand. He could see the waves emanating from her and then it was like the older image shimmied and shattered causing wave after wave of pain, happiness and sorrow.

He could see another shape at the center and it was her new image and from it were emanating waves with pictures and clips like the old home movies. He watched and saw her with the woman, Sophia and then with other people and the hugging and laughing, he watched as she seemed to gain in size appearing to be pregnant and watch how she just ballooned up with the child. Then her time in the hospital and delivering the baby, the babies. She had twins. They were twin boys.

The waves became joyful and increased showing the boys as they grew and started walking and talking. They were playing and running around, chasing each other and then her too. They increased to the point he couldn't see them clearly and continued increasing until the whole scene became a bright light and then exploded end the soul gaze. He had to brace himself from the emotional explosion that he had felt which almost knocked him out of his chair.

He slowly got his breath under control before looking back at her as she sat smiling and calm. He grabbed his beer and took a long drink before setting it back down on the coffee table.. he turned back to her and said, "They are beautiful boys, congratulations."

She smiled a big proud smile and said, "Thank you Harry, that means a lot. They are the love of my life and the very reason to get up every day. They make me happy."

"Yes, I can see that. What are their names," he asked?

"The oldest is Antonio, named after my father and the youngest is Malcolm. They look identical and are adorable and loving and a real handful," She said with a smile.

"Those are great names, twins that is fantastic. You and your husband must be very proud," he said.

She turned and grabbed her beer and raised it to her lips and said, before taking a drink, "I'm not married, Harry"

CHAPTER 3

A Very Stimulating Conversation, Indeed.

Harry then asked, "Is he around, has be been there to help you?

She said, "No, he had not been there since I got pregnant."

Now it was his turn to take a drink that drained his beer. He set down the empty before asking, "Have you told him about the boys yet?"

She smiled and said, "Yes, I have."

Harry looked at her and asked, "And what did he say? Did he do anything?"

She smiled and said, "I haven't heard a word from him about them, yet."

Harry seemed to get upset about this and grabbed his empty bottle and walked into the kitchen to grab another. He opened it and took a drink as he walked back to his seat before saying, "I don't understand? How could a man not stand up for the family that he had made. He must have felt something for you and really, who could blame him, you are beautiful and fantastic. And then there are those two boys, they're great. They're beautiful, and exciting and just amazing. How can he not want all of that? Is he a complete idiot?"

He looked at her for a few seconds and then said, "What is wrong with him? Could it be your magic? Is he afraid of getting involved with someone who has magic?"

"Annastasia, say something. What are you not saying," he asked?

She smiled and took his hand and said, "Yes, he sometimes is an idiot, but I hadn't gotten around to telling him about the boys until now. So, I don't know what he has to say about them." She then sat back quietly and looked at him.

Harry sat there for a couple seconds, replaying what she had just told him, and it appeared that he had not truly understood exactly what she had said. The he got a real confused look on his face and he appeared to be repaying something in his mind. He went from a surprised look, to and shocked look and the a completely confused look back to a shocked looked, all in about 20 seconds. He then turned to look straight at her and said, "What are you saying?"

She didn't reply except to raise her beer to her mouth and look right back at him. He kept staring at her with the look of a very confused man before she would have sworn she saw his face light up and his eyes started to sparkle and then tear up. He said, "Are you saying that I am the father of those two boys?"

He started looking all around the room before looking back at her with tears in his eyes, asking, "Are you sure? Wait a minute, Malcolm was my father's name. I mean, how can you be sure that I am the father?"

She looked at him a little perturbed and said, "I know that you are the father because you were the first person I had sex with after I was changed into this body and I have not had sex with anyone else since. And, if you will think back, I told you at the time that I hadn't had sex with anyone for over 60 years, you idiot. What did you think I did after I left you, start sleeping with every man that come along. That's just great, Harry."

Quickly, Harry is on his feet and trying to apologize, "No, that's nothing like what I thought. I didn't know what you were doing. I hadn't heard from you, I didn't even know where you were. I hadn't seen you or talked to you for almost 5 years. How old are the boys, by the way?"

She stood there with her hands on her hips, looking absolutely cute as hell and said, "they recently turned 5, and if you wanted to find me you are a wizard harry, you can find anyone, dammit."

Harry was shocked, and said, "What do you mean, when you left you made it very clear that we were through and you could be with me. You wouldn't even talk to me when I saw you in Edenborough 4 month later. Then you just disappeared completely. Nothing until yesterday."

He stands there looking at her as a thought suddenly crosses his mind, "Edenborough, you must have known you were pregnant then. You would have been what, 4 maybe 5 months along, right? Why didn't you say something then?"

Annastasia seemed to calm down and had a pained look on her face. She said softly, "I don't know why Harry. I was scared, and mad as hell, not at you, mostly but because of what had happened to me. I was pregnant. Hell, Harry I was almost 72 years old and I was pregnant for the first time in my life. I didn't know what to do. I saw you there in Edenborough and I ran away crying and so scared."

She started to cry, and Harry felt like a jerk. He sat next to her and took her in his arms. She started crying harder as he pulled her to his chest and just held her. She started talking while crying saying, "I remembered what you had gone through with Susan and Maggie. How you were hurt yet understood why she had kept Maggie hidden. Also, why after you saved her you had the church try to hide her, so your enemies wouldn't find her and try to use her to get back at you."

Soon she started to get control of herself and she said, "I wanted to sat something, all this time being with the boys and knowing you were out there but I also knew that you were the Winter Knight and you had a lot of enemies besides the Summer and Winter Courts. I didn't know what to do and I was scared that you would be really mad and hurt after finding out that you had 2 sons and I hide them from you."

She started to cry again a little, but Harry pushed her up and looked her straight in the eyes saying, "Yes I am a little hurt, but I completely understand why you did what you did. I am scared now that I know because I do have a lot of enemies but as I have found in dealing with Maggie, she is my child, they are my children and I am their father. I will not be ashamed or afraid to love them because some people don't like me."

She smiled at him as he continued, "I want to meet my sons, if it is all right with you and I want to be a part of their lives, somehow. I want you to meet Maggie and I want her to meet her brothers. There is also, uncle Thomas. He loves Maggie and I know it would love the boys as well, but that we will probably have to talk about first."

She smiled at him and then started wiping her eyes. She then said, "I would love for you to come to Italy and meet the boys. I think it is time for them to get to know their father."

Harry sat up straight and then asked, "I know that you are a real, real old-fashioned Catholic girl so do we need to get married before I meet your family, because you know I would?"

She smiled and said, "Thank you for reminding me how old I am, damn. The answer is no, not yet anyway. We will talk about that later, much later. For now, I just want you to spend some time with your sons."

"Great, when can we do this," asked Harry?

She smiled and said, "I was planning to head back tomorrow night. I wasn't too sure how this was going to go but if you want we can go some time tomorrow through the Ways."

Harry was all smiles saying, "That would be great. In the mean time why do we have a few beers and celebrate? I have really missed you."

She put her hands up on his chest and said, "Slow down there cowboy, you now know what happened the last time we got drunk and spent some time together, right?"

He smiled really big and said, "They say that lightning doesn't strike the same spot twice. I'm willing to take the chance if you are?"

She said right back at him while throwing her arms around his neck, "Yeah right, I'll just bet you are."

They shared a kiss that would warm the sun and later, they had another beer.


End file.
